Safety wrench for faucets and like valves



April 23, 1935. A. w. wHEAToN SAFETY WRENCH FOR FAUCETS AND LIKE VALVES Filed oci. 5, 1934 Patented Apr. 23, i935 SAFETY WRENCH FOB FAUCETS AND LIKE VALVES I Abram W. Wheaton, Maplewood, N. J., assignor to A. W. Wheaton Brass Works, Newark, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application October 5, 1934, Serial No. 746,992

7 Claims.

This invention relates to safety wrenches for operating self-closing faucets and like valves.

Faucets of the self-closing type are, for many uses, frequently arranged to be actuated by a deg tachable wrench, means being sometimes provided for so holding the wrench in faucet valve opening position that the faucet remains open against the pressure of its self-closing means until the wrench is manually released. Such wrench operated selfclosing faucets are commonly employed for dispensing gasolene, oil or other inflammable liquid from supply reservoirs, tank wagons and the like; and in such use, it is of great convenience to provide an operating wrench which may be stopped or held in faucet valve opening position, especially when continuously delivering a considerable quantity of liquid at one time. Even when the wrench is not designed to be locked and held in valve opening position, the operator, in order to avoid necessity oi standing by and manually holding the same in such position, will often secure the wrench therein by tying or wedging the same in some manner. There is an objection however to locking, tying or Wedging the operating wrench of such faucts in valve opening position, since in the event of rire, access to the wrench for releasing the same may not be possible, and consequently the faucet would remain open under such conditions, with risk not only oi loss of the liquid dispensed, but oi greater loss through spread of. the nre by the feeding of inflammable material thereto.

The present invention has for its principal object to provide a, wrench for operating self-closing faucets which it locked, tied, wedged or otherwise held in valve opening position, will, nevertheless, when subjected to abnormal heat, at once yield to closing movement oi' the valve regardless of its said locked or held condition.

Another object of the invention is to provide, in connection with a wrench designed to be locked or engaged to the faucet in its valve opening positionf a normally rigidly supported socket member adapted to yield rotatively under the in` uence of abnormal heat.

Other objects of this invention, not at this time more particularly enumerated, will be understood from the following detailed description of the same.

An illustrative embodiment of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:-

Fig. 1 is in part an elevational and in part a sectional View of a. self-closing faucet showing the novel safety wrench as operatively applied thereto im manipulation of the faucet; Fig. 2 is in part (El. E37-162) a top plan and in part a horizontal sectional view of the same; and Fig. 3 is a View, similar to that of Fig. 1, but showing the safety wrench as released by abnormal heat.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary longitudinal section of the wrench, taken on line t-Ll in Fig. 2, but drawn on an enlarged scale; and Fig. 5 is a fragmentary top plan View of the socketed end of the wrench.

Similar characters of reference are employed in the above-described views, to indicate corresponding parts.

Referring to the drawing, the reference character I indicates a faucet body having an interior chamber 2, into which leads an intake portion 3 and from which leads an outlet portion 4. Intermediate the intake and outlet, at the lower part of said faucet body 2 is an annular valve-seat shoulder 5. The upper part of said faucet body is provided with a housing t, within which is seated a closing spring l which surrounds a valve stem 8 so as to thrust upon a valve member S, to hold the latter yieldably to its seat 5, and thus in normal closed condition. The faucet body is iurther provided with a horizontal laterally disposed olf-set portion til, provided with suitable bearings in which is `iournaled a cam shaft or spindle il, one end of which projects exteriorly through a suitable stuffing box gland l2, and terminates in a squared end i3 adapted to receive operative application thereto of a wrench usable for manually opening the valve member 9 against the closing pressure of the spring l. Aiiixed to said shaft or spindle I l is a lift-cam It, which enters a slot l5 in the valve stem 8, thereby operating, when the shaft or spindle is properly turned, to lift the stem 8 and valve member 9 into open relation to the valve port P dened by the valve-seat shoulder 5.

The above-described faucet structure has been set forth for the purpose of illustration, and merely discloses one specific form of self-closing valve with which the safety wrench of this invention may be used as an actuating means, and consequently it will be understood that said wrench is not limited for use with the particular faucet structure described, but is equally applicable to any type or design of faucet or valve having a wrench receiving mechanism, and thus being adapted for wrench actuation.

In the faucet above described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, the faucet body is provided with a stop-projection or nosing I6, engageable by a portion of the wrench, after the same has been moved to valve opening position, to thereby lock or hold said wrench in such position. Wrenches designed and arranged for cooperation with such locking or holding means are now well known, and the novel safety features of the wrench constructed in accordance with the present invention are shown as embodied in a wrench of such character; it will, however, be obvious that the safety features of the wrench may be applied to any type or kind thereof, whether provided with such or similar lock stop engaging means or not, since these safety features are operative in accordance with their desired functions inla wrench which is, in any manner, tied, wedged or otherwise blocked in valve opening position.

The illustrative form of valve operating wrench shown in the accompanying drawing, comprises a head-piece I1 provided with a transverse cylindrical bore I8 extending therethrough. At its inward end said head-piece I1 is provided with a pair of vertically spaced horizontal perforate ears I9, through which extends and by which is supported a pintle 20. Journaled on this pintle 20 is a handle or lever portion 2|, which is thus pivotally associated with said headpiece I1 so as to be capable of swinging movement relative thereto in horizontal plane, while nevertheless being capable of transmitting the necessary turning movement to said head-piece. Connected with the handle or lever portion 2I, preferably as an integral part thereof, is a laterally extending stop projection or arm 22. Carried by said head-piece I1 is a wrench socket member 23 having a cylindrical shank 24 to lit and engage in the bore I8 of said head-piece. Said socket member 23 is provided with a square cavity or socket 25 to fit upon and thus receive the square end I3 of the spindle I I of the faucet valve operating means. Means are provided capable of breaking down or yielding under heat and yet, under normal cool conditions, serving to rigidly and unyieldingly secure said socket member to the head-piece of the wrench. Such means comprises one or more pins or dowels 26 of fusible metal, which are disposed in aligned openings or passages 21 and 28 with which the socket member and head-piece of the wrench are respectively provided. Preferably such aligned openings or passages 21 and 28 extend in the shank 2l and head-piece I1 radially or laterally to the axis oi' rotation of the latter when the wrench is moved for applying valve operating rotation to the spindle I I of the valve operating mechanism, whereby the pin or dowel 26 acts as a key or lock to normally prevent rotative movement of the socket member 23 relative to the head-piece I1. While, in the drawing, three pins or dowels 26 are shown in such arrangement, it will be obvious that such number thereof may be more or less as may be desired in any given case.

In use, when the wrench is operated to open the faucet valve against the pressure of spring 1, the handle 2I is swung laterally to bring the stop-projection or arm 22 beneath the nosing I6, thus locking the wrench to hold or maintain the spindle II of the valve operating mechanism turned to valve opening position, and thereby the faucet in continuous liquid discharging condition. In the event of fire in the vicinity of the thus open faucet, the heat emanating therefrom has, directly and by conduction through the metal of the head-piece of the wrench, access to the pins or dowels 26 of fusible metal. Owing to the low melting point of the metal composing the pins or dowels 26, heat thus applied thereto will quickly melt or liquefy the same, so that they will very quickly break down from their normal solid and rigid condition and thus lose their holding or keying effect between the socket member and head-piece of the wrench, with the consequence that pressure of the spring 1, acting through the valve 8 9 and cam I4 and tending to rotate the spindle I I will no longer be resisted for the reason that the socket member 23, not being held against turning in the head-piece I1 by the pins or dowels 26, will rotate relative to the immovably locked head-piece, and consequently the valve 9 will quickly move into closed relation to the port P, and the faucet will therefore quickly be automatically closed against further discharge of liquid therethrough.

I am aware that various changes could be made in the specific form of wrench above set forth and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof. It is therefore intended that all matter contained in the abovevdescription or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. An attachable wrench for operating a selfclosing valve comprising a head-piece, a valve spindle engaging member capable of rotation relative to said head-piece, and fusible means for normally keying said member against rotation relative to said head-piece whereby upon melting of said keying means said member may so rotate under valve closing movement of said valve spindle.

2. An attachable wrench for operating a selfclosing valve comprising a handle member, a head-piece carried by said handle member, said head-piece having a transverse bore, a valve spindle engaging member having a shank journaled in said bore, and fusible means for normally keying said shank against rotation in said bore and thus said engaging member against rotation relative to said head-piece whereby upon melting of said keying means said engaging member may so rotate under valve closing movement of said valve spindle.

3. An attachable wrench for operating a selfclosing valve comprising a handle means having a portion provided with a transverse bore, a valve spindle engaging member rotatably mounted in said bore, and fusible means for normally keying said member against rotation in said bore whereby upon melting of said keying means said member may so rotate under valve closing movement of said valve spindle.

4. An attachable wrenchl for operating a selfclosing valve comprising a handle means having a portion provided with a transverse bore, a valve spindle engaging socket member having a shank rotatably mounted in said bore, and dowel means of fusible metal normally locking said shank against rotation in said bore whereby upon melting of said dowel means said shank may turn 1n said bore to permit rotation of said socket member under valve closing movement of said valve spindle.

5. An attachable wrench for operating a selfclosing valve comprising a handle means, a headpiece carried by said handle means, said headpiece having a transverse bore, a valve spindle engaging socket member having a shank rotatably mounted in said bore, said head-piece and shank having alignable openings extending from their meeting surfaces, and key means of fusible metal disposed in said alignable openings to normally lock said shank to said head-piece to prevent rotation of said socket member relative to said head-piece whereby upon melting of said key means said socket member is treed to rotate relative to said head-piece under valve closing movement of said'valve spindle.

6. An attachable wrench for operating a selfclosing valve comprising a head-piece and a valve spindle engaging member carried thereby, a handle member pivoted tto said head-piece for movement laterally with respect to the plane oi normal operating movement of said handle, said handle member having a stop portion engageable with a suitable stop to hold the valve operating spindle in valve opening position, said valve spindle engaging member being capable of rotation relative to said head-piece, and fusible means lor normally keying said spindle engaging member against rotation relative to said head-piece whereby upon melting of said keying means said member may so rotate under valve closing movement of said valve spindle.

suitable stop to hold the valve operating spindle in valve opening position. said valve spindle engaging member having a cylindrical shank, said head-piece having a transverse bore to receive said shank to rotatably relate said spindle engaging member thereto, and dowel means of fusible metal normally locking said shank against rotation in said head-piece whereby upon melting o! said dowel means said shank may turn in said bore to permit rotationfoi said spindle engaging member relative to said head-piece under valve closing movement to said valve spindle.

ABRAH W.' WHEATON. 

